25 Sneakers and Their Weird Design Inspirations

"What is design? It's where you stand with a foot in two worlds—the world of technology and the world of people and human purposes—and you try to bring the two together." - Mitchell Kapor

In the world of sneakers, design has come a long way since they were just made up of canvas and rubber. Today, designers with backgrounds in architecture, toy making, and various other area of expertise are bringing those influences to the sneaker world and creating new ways to look at footwear. The result of this blend of design styles has left us with some wild and crazy sneaker designs, but it has also forced others to look outside the box for ways to innovate and push the landscape forward.

One of the most iconic moments in the sneaker design world belongs to Bruce Kilgore and the Nike Air Force 1: A shoe inspired by the official aerial transportation of the President of the United States, that was created to mimic the plane's elite and regal nature. Mix that with a hiking boot and one of the first uses of Nike Air, and you create a shoe that is still popular 30-plus years after it was introduced. It is these forward-thinking designers that further the vision of people like Mitchell Kapor and Steve Jobs, who famously said "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."